Polish curbs to end next week?

By
Compiled From Wire Service Dispatches With Analysis From Monitor Correspondents Around The World,
Edited By Linda Feldmann /
July 15, 1983

Warsaw

Polish head of state Henryk Jablonski is expected to announce the end of martial law next Friday, Polish national day, parliamentary sources said. The Polish Sejm (parliament) published four draft constitutional amendments to pave the way for the lifting of martial law, and they are expected to be approved at a Sejm session July 21. One proposal provides for ways of dealing with any future emergencies without imposing martial law.

Under the amendment, a state of emergency - not martial law - would be imposed if authorities felt the need to crack down on any reemergence of a mass movement like the banned Solidarity trade union, Western diplomats said. Part of the amendment would allow a state of emergency to be imposed to deal with an internal as well as an external security threat; at present only an external threat can trigger such action.

A second amendment would write into the constitution for the first time a provision for the Patriotic Movement for National Rebirth (PRON), a year-old political and social umbrella grouping. An official explanation said PRON was to be a platform for expressing public opinion.

The Sejm also discussed a proposal to include in the constitution a guaranteed right of tenure for the owners of private farms, which account for much of the country's agriculture. The amendment also pledged a boost in technical support for the farmers.

The fourth proposal would announce an increased role for the working class in the government.